In June - Test Center Name: Macomb Community CollegeTest City State: Warren, MIRanking of 1 through 10: 10Big, individual desks, super-nice proctors who specifically said "We know today is stressful enough, we're not going to treat you like criminals" allowed us to use the bathroom, kept time with five minute warnings, were quiet, didn't walk around creeping people out, etc. No noise. Ample parking. I did not know this, but apparenly Kaplan thinks MCC is the third best in MI. Started and finished in good time.

In October - Test Center Name: Oakland UniversityTest City State: Rochester, MIRanking of 1 through 10: 6The main issue I had with Oakland was that they had completely inadequate directions to find our testing rooms. We were supposed to report to 106 (which no one could even find...) and they had a couple of signs around the building assigning us to specific rooms by last name. Some of these rooms were in a different building, and even the ones within the same building were confusingly located and hard to find. Keep in mind it was a Saturday so there weren't many students around to give directions or anything. This is not something one needs right before the LSAT... Within the room (each was different, I can only describe mine) there were these superlong desk things where we were placed one apart. We had plenty of space on the desk. The proctors were fine but not super. My dad dropped me off, but they had a big parking lot right next to the building. Started and ended in okay time, after we finally found the rooms (other than the SEVENTEEN people who got lost/switched centers/didn't show up...)

Some people I know took it at Cooley in East Lansing and said they were really nice, even put out breakfast... don't think anyone ate it though, lol.

Test Center Name: College of AlamedaTest City State: Alameda, CARanking of 1 through 10: 9+ Proctors were very nice and easy going, many bathrooms, desks were fairly spacious, easy campus parking $1, very quiet, relatively few test-takers per room (split everyone up into three classrooms according to last name)

Test Center Name: University of San FranciscoTest City State: San Francisco, CARanking of 1 through 10: 2+Bathrooms were far away, half-sized, fold-out depressing little desks, constant construction noises, way too many test takers in the room, proctors were fairly chill. Parking a total bitch (it is SF), but accessible by MUNI.

I tested at UCLA and it was not a fun experience. The chairs were small, although padded, and my arm took up half of the writing tablet. I had to stack the test book ontop of the answer sheet and go back and forth between the two and even then the tablet was smaller than the test booklet when it was closed. It was very uncomfortable and not a good testing environment.

Do not take the LSAT at Furman. You could either be in a room with nice desks and plenty of room or in an auditorium with the tiny fold down desks. If you are stuffed into the auditorium, There will also be a student on either side of you and you will invariably bump elbows with one another during the test. These guys were not prepared at all to administer the LSAT and I honestly believe that they recruited their proctors from the local soup kitchen on test day morning. These women talked throughout the entire test and had great difficulty reading the instructions. Even when asked between sections to keep the noise down, they continued to be a disturbance. Also, they kept walking in and out of the room during the stest and the "master proctor" or whatever you call the lady who was not working in the cafeteria that day, came in during the middle of a section and conversed with her cohorts which was probably disturbing to everyone in the room. Unfortunately, I was sitting front and center.

Even if you life on-campus at Furman, go elsewhere for the test.

Test Center Name: University of South Carolina, DEC 2008 Test City State: Columbia, South CarolinaRanking: 9 (I would give a 10 if the proctor had given me an extra 5 minutes on each section)

Comments about desks, proctors, noise, parking, etc:

Plenty of room, very professional and prepared proctors. Excellent organization and time management. We were seated with at least one chair between each with a nice table with plenty of room to keep the test booklet open while at the same time keeping the answer sheet viewable. I also had room to place my extra pencils and watch on the desk. There is invariably some kind of disburbance in every testing facility and the proctor handled one particular disturbance excellently. She didn't gag and bind the lady who kept popping her gum (which would have also gotten SC a 10), but she let her know that it was not allowed. After my experience at Furman, I can really appreciate the competency of the South Carolina test organizers and proctors. Way to go guys!

Last edited by artemish85 on Sun Dec 07, 2008 1:20 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Desk: PLENTY of desk space. You first arrive into a large room and then are divided up by last name into smaller rooms. Compared with Liberty in 2007, it took a little longer to get things going as we did not start until around 9:30 and ended around 1:30.

Proctors: Excellent; honored all my requests including shutting the door before starting, brightening the room by adjusting the dimmer, and even allowed me to sit directly under a light b/c I can concentrate better that way (even though the room was about the same brightness after the adjustment) and I wanted an end seat. Called 5 and gave us time in-between sections - only about 15 seconds though. Electronic beeper for section ending. Allowed bath room breaks during section and smoking outside, though they had to accompany you. So smokers, this is your place! Liberty did not allow any of this..how surprising though, right?

Noise: Not bad; there was a really squeaky desk up front where two people were sitting, and the students and proctors were considerate of that. So, we didn't start until that desk stopped squeaking.

Parking: I got dropped off, though I think there was decent parking a little further up the road and directly across from the end of Thornton Hall.

Complaints: Kind of chilly, found my fingers cold after the first 2 sections. I was nearly under the vent though. Also, two bathrooms each with one stall.

University of Arizona -- Drachman HallTucson AZ10Brand new building. Free and abundant parking right next to the building.Divided us into 3 large teaching rooms. 70 per room, 2 seats between each tester. 3 tier stadium set up. Tables not desks, so tons of working space. Comfy chairs. Noise Proof. Amazing really.Proctors could have started checking people in earlier (they started right before 830, but everyone was lined up where they were supposed to be, and went quickly once they started). Nonetheless we started the test at 915 and were out a little after 1. No complaints at all. Proctors all did their jobs, were not a distraction, and did not let people get away with anything major.

Do not take the LSAT at Furman. You could either be in a room with nice desks and plenty of room or in an auditorium with the tiny fold down desks. If you are stuffed into the auditorium, There will also be a student on either side of you and you will invariably bump elbows with one another during the test. These guys were not prepared at all to administer the LSAT and I honestly believe that they recruited their proctors from the local soup kitchen on test day morning. These women talked throughout the entire test and had great difficulty reading the instructions. Even when asked between sections to keep the noise down, they continued to be a disturbance. Also, they kept walking in and out of the room during the stest and the "master proctor" or whatever you call the lady who was not working in the cafeteria that day, came in during the middle of a section and conversed with her cohorts which was probably disturbing to everyone in the room. Unfortunately, I was sitting front and center.

Even if you life on-campus at Furman, go elsewhere for the test.

Test Center Name: University of South Carolina, DEC 2008 Test City State: Columbia, South CarolinaRanking: 9 (I would give a 10 if the proctor had given me an extra 5 minutes on each section)

Comments about desks, proctors, noise, parking, etc:

Plenty of room, very professional and prepared proctors. Excellent organization and time management. We were seated with at least one chair between each with a nice table with plenty of room to keep the test booklet open while at the same time keeping the answer sheet viewable. I also had room to place my extra pencils and watch on the desk. There is invariably some kind of disburbance in every testing facility and the proctor handled one particular disturbance excellently. She didn't gag and bind the lady who kept popping her gum (which would have also gotten SC a 10), but she let her know that it was not allowed. After my experience at Furman, I can really appreciate the competency of the South Carolina test organizers and proctors. Way to go guys!

I took at Furman on Saturday. The proctors really were a pack of crayon eating window lickers. Ours was in and out of the room, rustling newspapers, giggling.

It was a hotel with a large ballroom so we had plenty of space, it was a far walk from the BART station though. Lots of UC Berkeley, USF, SFSU students. The Hotel staff let you check things in with the bell hop if you brought unapproved items. I forgot my LSAT ticket but they had a public computer with internet access and a printer (THANK GOD!). There was a bar where you could take your approved tissues and drink your sorrows away if necessary.

The proctors took forever to seat everyone (nearly 350 ppl - I had time to count them all), the proctor also had a monotone voice that was deep and slow - took forever to read the instructions. We didn't get out until around 3pm. I went and peed outside in a bush during break because the bathrooms were too crowded. (no joke). Also all this made people unhappy and there were lots of grumpy people all around including hotel staff. I didn't care so much.

Why zero, you may ask. They moved the testing center from the library to another building far away with absolutely NO notice, and NO signs visible from the driveway. I had actually called the library director the preceding afternoon, and she confirmed the test the building and the room number of the test. And of course, I checked with LSAC's Web site. So I did my part. I get there twenty minutes before, and the library is empty, no cars in the lot, all the windows dark. Eventually, I find a security guard to ask, and she tells me the new location. By the time I get to the registration desk, they've already begun reading the instructions. The lady at the desk apologizes for the last-minute change (making her a wonderful human being, no doubt). The main proctor herself reads the. instructions. as if she has. never picked. up a phonics book in. her life.

The desk tops are literally the size of an 8.5x11 inch sheet of paper, if not smaller. In the adjacent room, there's some sort of gathering of JCSU students making a minor racket. At one point, a proctor opens a door at the back of the room leading to the adjacent room and asks them to be quiet -- without first entering the room and closing the door behind her -- causing a bigger disruption than the kids themselves. And, of course, she slams the door after doing so.

Brooklyn College, New Ingersoll Hall, Brooklyn, NYRanking:7 They scheduled another exam for the same room, it took them 90 minutes to find additional spaces, get classrooms opened by college security etc. Not punctual at all, we didnt start till 10.30am! The people proctering were prob doing it the first time, they didnt know when to read what. But the classrooms were big, new and quiet. 30-35 people per classroom, but there is seating for at least 100. I def recommend South Shore over Brooklyn College

Pace University - New York, NYRanking: 10Easy subway access, large, bright and clean facility. Quiet and easy to see the clock. Plenty of workspace (lecture hall with long tables for each row and we sat in every other chair). Punctual, proctor was competent, helpful, and even a little funny. One caveat - I was near the front of the line, and was thus in the main room. I'm not sure if the other rooms are quite as nice, but just make your way to the front and you should be fine.

I took the October LSAT at Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg, VA. I would love to know how I did compared to the rest of the group! Some of them seemed completely clueless! I mean I guess you've got to be somewhat intelligent and goal oriented if you're taking the LSAT, but these people were funny. One girl kept giggling and making a big deal about the test by running up and down the hall and breathing in and out repeatedly. Her friend was laughing at her and this further encouraged her. I think she was a junior/senior in college because she was being cutesy/immature (big pet peeve of mine). Anyway--another guy asked me if I thought the October test would include a logic games section! When I told him all LSAT's have at least one LG section he looked completely shocked and proceeded to open up his Kaplan book (which he brought to the testing center) and cram, cram, cram! Another guy forgot his driver's license (and I cut him some slack because I felt bad for him). But then he asked if he could "just give his social security number" instead of showing his ID.

It was all right. The desks were small. The proctors were nice. The students were, uh, interesting...and unprepared. Parking sucks and the campus is very confusing so go early to find the testing center.

scaredstiff165 wrote:I took the October LSAT at Mary Washington University in Fredericksburg, VA. I would love to know how I did compared to the rest of the group! Some of them seemed completely clueless! I mean I guess you've got to be somewhat intelligent and goal oriented if you're taking the LSAT, but these people were funny. One girl kept giggling and making a big deal about the test by running up and down the hall and breathing in and out repeatedly. Her friend was laughing at her and this further encouraged her. I think she was a junior/senior in college because she was being cutesy/immature (big pet peeve of mine). Anyway--another guy asked me if I thought the October test would include a logic games section! When I told him all LSAT's have at least one LG section he looked completely shocked and proceeded to open up his Kaplan book (which he brought to the testing center) and cram, cram, cram! Another guy forgot his driver's license (and I cut him some slack because I felt bad for him). But then he asked if he could "just give his social security number" instead of showing his ID.

I just want to know how I did compared to them...

While I was waiting in line before check-in started, a guy next to me was doing LGs, and he offered them to me. He would look at his material for like 20 seconds, then turn to people around him and try to make jokes about the LSAT or talk about how evil of a test it was. Another guy had whole pages ripped from Kaplan, and was reading over those pretty intently. However, all in all, most people remained silent. I admit that I was trying to judge each person and eavesdrop into the convos that were happening to determine if/how much other people prepped. Couldn't make any determinations. Once we were seated in our room, 2 girls in front of were looking around for other people in their TM class, but they could not find any. Two people that I knew whom were supposed to test with me failed to show (they had name placards on our assigned desk spaces). That sucked, I was looking forward to seeing a familiar face.

CJansen wrote:College of AlamedaAlameda, CA10Big desks, class only about half-full, plenty of parking ($1), & very quite. Proctors I had were great; quiet and not obsessive over time.

Seconded, College of Alameda was the ideal testing situation.

Cathedral Hill HotelSan Francisco, CA2Complete shit show. Total chaos. Clowns for proctors. Tables that seemed to have been carved from logs the morning of, completely uneven surface and gave tons of splinters.Avoid at all costs.

Test Center Name: College of AlamedaTest City State: Alameda, CARanking of 1 through 10: 9+ Proctors were very nice and easy going, many bathrooms, desks were fairly spacious, easy campus parking $1, very quiet, relatively few test-takers per room (split everyone up into three classrooms according to last name)

Test Center Name: University of San FranciscoTest City State: San Francisco, CARanking of 1 through 10: 2+Bathrooms were far away, half-sized, fold-out depressing little desks, constant construction noises, way too many test takers in the room, proctors were fairly chill. Parking a total bitch (it is SF), but accessible by MUNI.

Tiny desks, proctor didn't know how to tell time. They only get a 5 for processing people efficiently and taking the time to make sure that construction noise ended before the test started.

GULC

8

Nice big tables, comfy chairs but took forever to check in and begin. Some deductions for inefficiency. I didn't get out of the test until after 2:00. And after waiting 20 minutes in line to have my ID checked, I was pointed to a separate line for finger printing, I shit you not.

dk5151 wrote:Pace University - New York, NYRanking: 10Easy subway access, large, bright and clean facility. Quiet and easy to see the clock. Plenty of workspace (lecture hall with long tables for each row and we sat in every other chair). Punctual, proctor was competent, helpful, and even a little funny. One caveat - I was near the front of the line, and was thus in the main room. I'm not sure if the other rooms are quite as nice, but just make your way to the front and you should be fine.

Ahhh, so THIS is why everyone on this board always raves about Pace. Well this confirms my suspicions that I was in some sort of overflow classroom for the exam, as I was at the back of the line. There were at least 5 of these rooms from what I can remember, maybe more. Read below for my horrible experience at Pace in October. Moral of the story: Don't stand outside with the smokers to get some fresh air before the exam or you'll risk the torture of the tiny desks.

There was a bit of a wait at the beginning. Lots of students, but it went quickly.

**Beware though. I apparently got lucky. Supposedly there weren't that many people testing because of the Gator game on Saturday, which was away (thank god). I got out before 2, had a good, efficient proctor, and everything went smoothly. A friend, who had taken the LSAT last year in October (I think) at UF, called me the night before the test to warn me that there would be a lot of people and it would take forever. She didn't get out until after 4 and her test was on a game day that was at home, so parking for her was pretty much impossible. Also she had many complaints about the noise level from the tailgaters outside. She said her experience was pretty much the worst it could have been as far as test centers go. (But hey, she's at U. Chicago Law now, so it couldn't have affected her that much!) Having been forewarned, I was extremely pleased with how quickly and pleasantly everything went (I mean, as pleasant as an LSAT can go). I wouldn't take it at UF unless you are sure that there isn't a home game that day. (Also, FYI I originally was scheduled to take the test at Stetson U. outside of Daytona, but at the last minute LSAC changed my center to UF, so beware. These smaller testing centers in central Florida seem to default to UF if they are full.)